datamusicata

I am sitting high atop a mountain on  Orcas Island gazing at the beautiful Puget Sound and all the other islands that make up this area so close to the Canadian border.   I am at the home of Mike Hurewicz and Sharon Abreu (www.sharmuse.com), two artist friends of mine with whom I produced a CD several years ago called Sanctuary for their label.

I played last night in a place called the Green Frog Acoustic Tavern in Bellingham, Washington.   I had never played here before and didn’t know what to expect, but the name had me encouraged.    I showed up and found no promotion whatsoever  for my date.  Not one poster, picture or mention of my upcoming show.   I had seen the packages before they went out, so I was mystified as to why there was nothing up.  The owner, James, assured me that they never received any package.  

So here’s my first tip for today’s post:    When you, or someone for you, sends a promo package to a venue, be sure to follow up.   Make certain that they receive it.  Also put a request in the package that they please contact you when they receive it so that you will know that it has arrived.   But remember  that it is not their responsibility to contact you and let you know that they have it.   It’s your responsibility to ascertain that they got it.  If they contact you, that’s fantastic…and rare.   It is up to you or your agent to ascertain that stuff. 

This was a Tuesday night, in a town I hadn’t played since 1980, so I wasn’t expecting a crowd, but it obviously would have helped attendance if they had at least had a calendar or a chalk board that had who was coming and when.  (The fact that a crowd showed up simply attested to the fact that the club had attracted a clientele, tho theyr weren't necessarily there to see me.   Good thing I practiced.)

So when you play somewhere, ask them if they have a calendar that they send out, or at least display in the club.   If they don’t, the you put the info on the posters before you send it to them, so that all they have to do is put them up.   I know that they may not, but you have no power over that end, except to follow up and ask them if they are displayed.

You can do it when you follow up on whether they were received.   But don’t ask them if they have put them up.   Instead, ask them how soon before the date they put them up or if there has been any overt response to the posters.   Something that will allow you to ascertain that the posters are up without denigrating the person you are talking to; and something that will gently remind that person that the posters should be up.

Also, when you talk to them, ask them if they have media list that they contact and then request a copy of the media list and explain that if the media is hit by both the venue and the label or artist, then they are more likely to give it some space in their periodical or on air calendar. 

You not only want to assist them in any way that you can to promote the date, you want to subtly remind them that they also have a responsibility to promote the date.  Many venues forget or don’t think that they have any real responsibility to promote.  They think that if they are providing the venue, they’ve done their part. 

But in fact, they stand to make a lot more money if there are people there imbibing and eating.  There is also the fact that they room gets a reputation if there are people there when other people arrive

Sometimes they want you to believe that it is entirely your job to get people in there.   It’s not.  It’s your job to entertain whoever shows up so well that they not only come back, but they bring their friends.  Now you should take some responsibility for getting folks in there but all successful clubs also do what they can to get a crowd in there.  

If you find a room that doesn’t pull their end, don’t worry about working there again.  They are not going to be around that long anyhow.   Find the good rooms and do all you can to make it happen in those good rooms.  They won’t forget you if they make money.   They also won’t forget you if they lose their ass, so take care of business.   First be good.   Practice enough to be prepared when you go up there.   They do all you can to get people in there yourself.   And follow up to see if the venue is also doing it’s part.  

It was a Tuesday night, but we did have enough of a crowd that I made a respectabile amount of money and sold every other person in the room a CD.  I love it when that happens.